Hi all!

For those of you that aren't sick of looking at my photo's...here's a few updated pics of the house and of course some of my sweet boy....

We took Talon & Brooklyn to pick out some pumpkins yesterday. It's a farm right across the road from my sisters house that sells all sorts of fall decorating goodies. I have no idea why we've never stopped there before. Very cheap prices on beautiful pumpkins, gourds, etc.

My drooling, bubble-blowing boy......

Afterwards, we headed back up on the hill to see how DH was doing. He did some more brickwork and set the 6x6 posts for our wrap around front porch.

Here he is with baby T-birrd....notice that the scaffolding is finally down on the garage side of the house. Yay!

Here's a shot of the completed back of the house....

DH made me a fancy step. : ) I love it.

Here you can see the small, arched doorway that DH made for my storage area that is in the ceiling of the garage. Will make accessing that so much easier for me. We are going to build the door out of barn wood and use old, strap hinges. I call it my little "gnome door".

And here's the front. The rest of the scaffold wont come down 'till the aluminum on the porches is done. You can see the 4 posts....he just finished setting them......

We are definately making progress. He should be back to work on the inside soon.

Talon's favorite pastime is putting his feet in his mouth, lol....

See the foot? It's in every picture!! : )

Thanks for starting a new thread Shirley!

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Dawn-Talon is precious I love that little foot in his mouth. I kiss Dawson's feet and he just giggles. The new thread was just in time, thanks for the update pictures of the house. It looks like it won't be long now before you are in it.

I need to scan some pictures of Brittney and post her Senior pictures, I can't believe she is graduating in 2008. Actually she will be out of school in January and will then go back and graduate with her class in June. My only GD has grown up sure glad we have little Dawson for awhile yet.

Shirley

Dawn, the Gnome Door is just so ... hard to think of just the right word, but it is so creative and one of those things that all the owners of the house after you will cherish also. Its one of those things that make it 'yours'.

And always love the pictures of T. growing like a weed.

Shirley, would love to see Homecoming pics of Brittney.
Sorry to say my son didn't go again this year.

sharon

Hi, I know that I am not part of your group, but I was admiring all the pictures of your house Dawn, and its beautiful! Is your husband a Mason? If so he does good work! my husband is a mason too. He has always wanted to be able to build his own house, mabey someday we will, hopefully. Anyway, I know that planting season is just about over, but I have lots of daylilies! Mabey in the spring I might have the chance to trade some daylilies with one of you lovely ladies! -Jessica

Hi Jessica!
Sorry, I just now saw your post. Thank you so much for the wonderful compliment on the house & brickwork. Yes, DH is a mason as is his father and uncle. He learned the trade at a very young age working for his dad. He is now in business for himself.
So I guess you know all too well how dirty of a profession it is. : ) I do lots and lots of laundry, lol. Hope your DH gets the chance to build someday. It's really been hard work but doing it ourselves was a good decision. You can really appreciate it so much more. We currently live in a 100+ yr. old home that DH bricked too. After this, he will need a rest. : )
Does your DH do residential, commercial, or both?

I'd love to trade with you in the Spring....be sure to stop back!!

Have a great day,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Hi Dawn,
Your welcome on the compliment! YES, lots and lots of dirty laundry, and sand and mudd, ect! LOL. My husband does residential work, mostly coustom houses. He's just now starting to get jobs on the side. He just finished this fireplace at a friends house yesterday. (it was supposed to be brick, but then the people changed their mind last minuite, but I think it turned out nice!)

Here is a few pics of a garage he built for my aunt. Both of these jobs he did all by himself, with out a laborer! Its tough work!!


Well those are designs, that he picture framed out, but you get the idea, he loves to get fancy with the brick. I guess you can tell im proud of him! Hopefully some day he'll have his own business too! Down here in Maryland there aren't too many people who want to do this kind of work any more. Its really hard manual labor, most people want easier jobs. Anyway, can't wait till spring, ive got lots of daylilies, that didn't bloom their first year, and I can't wait for those FFO's! -Jessica
P.S.- your baby is so cute. Here are my two.
Ryan

Tyler, with our dog Buster
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Jessica - nice to meet you! I love to look at brick & stone work so it was a treat to see your DH's work - just beautiful. Your boys are pretty darn cute too, as is that Boston Buster... Thanks for sharing your photos, marea

Forbidden Desires & Mildred Mitchell

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Marea.....BEEEEUUUUUTTTEEEEFFFUUULLLLLL! That's one of the prettiest DL pics i've seen!

Jessica, thanks for sharing those great pics of your boys and Buster! What an adorable family!
Love the herringbone & basketweave brickwork! DH used to do quite a bit of that, but it seems nowadays no one wants to pay for those extra's. It's becoming much more of a rarity to see it done. I was going to ask him to put a basketweave on the side of our garage, but I kept my trap shut. It's alot of work and I knew he had enough to do. : )
I LOVE the fireplace. Your DH did a great job! Stonework is my favorite. DH and I have done alot together on our own place.

Here is my greenhouse. We used stone that came out of our yard....

And here's our 100+ year old house. We bricked it about 10 years ago. This picture isn't the best quality, but if you look closely you can see our initials on the chimneys. Hope the new owners names start with "J" & "D", lol!

We did stonework inside and on the back of the house too.

Here's the "guts" of our new fireplace....we will be facing it will stone as well. Just haven't found stone yet.

Love your kitchen! It looks so bright. I will be going with an off-white cabinet at the new house.

Thanks for sharing the pics!

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Mareas, nice to meet you too, and thanks for the compliment! Oh.... I just love Mildred Mitchell, she is a great plant, my favorite so far. Heres mine earlier this season-
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Dawn- nice greenhouse, your house is nice, who ever moves in there next is lucky, I love your halloween decorations.The double sided fireplace is nice too, bet that room will stay warm in the winter! -Jessica

OMG Dawn Talon is just to cute.Love the foot pictures.
Your house is looking wonderfull.Wouldn't be long now and
you'll be working on the inside and before you know it or how it happened it will be done.And we'll need pictures of everything.LOL

Hey Jessica.Nice brick work.Boy are pretty darn cute too.

Mareas..STOP with the seedlings FD&MM is Gorgeous!!!

Ok whom ever is doing the rain dance PLEASE please STOP
LOL..we've gotten way to much rain.

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Sigh..went out yesterday to plant peony's.Well that sure was fun.Standing water in most of the yard.Oh it didn't rain yesterday..hehe..Dug a hole and watched it fill with water.Praying I don't lose my iris from rot with all this rain.I'm tellin you it rained most of Sept and all but 3 days of Oct.

But some of the plants are loving it.

Still have roses flowering,and daylilies.Odd for zone 4 in
Oct.

Someone should get their swap box today..hehe

Well off to work.Be well all.
Happy Fall..and please please take the rain away..just for a short time.

Dirtpig/Jean

Awww thanks Jean!
Hey, about your rain....at least it's not snow! LOL!

We could use a bit of it here...my front yard has been brown most of the summer. And i'll bet those folks down in GA and surrounding areas would take a little.
As usual, your plant combo. pic is just lovely!

A while back I think I showed you all a picture of the exterior "birdhouse" lights I planned to order for the new house. Well, I ended up deciding to get only one for the master bedroom side of the house.
These are the rest of the exterior lights that I ordered....what do you think?

These ones go on my porch ceilings..

These are the wall lights for the garage areas...

And we will eventually be building a set of steps that go from the driveway up to the back yard and these will go on brick or stone piers at the top of the steps..

They probably won't arrive until December....they are made in Lancaster, PA (Amish country!) by a juried artisan and member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. I think they are so fun! Primitive, yet whimsical. Just like me, hee hee.

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Okay Barb, here's Talon all bundled up in his favorite sweater, ready to go....

He still has lots of room in it, so i'm sure we'll get good use of it this winter.

The one from Jean is just a little too big yet, but i'll be sure to post pics when he can wear it.

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Jean, please, please, please send the rain down south! Some of our lakes and rivers are as low as 65" below normal. There are some areas that have restricted water so much that if you are caught watering the lawn or washing your car, they fine you and cut the water off to your house for 2 days! I think we have had a quarter inch of rain in the last two months total.

Oh, I just want to give little T a squeeze and smooches on those cheeks until he giggles!!!!! Barb, great job on the sweater. I just finished knitting one up for Maleah last night.

Dawn, love the lights! We picked out lantern style lights for our house when we redid the siding a few years ago. They are a dark bronze and really add character to an otherwise characterless house :).

Last Saturday, Doug and I visited the Chattanooga Daylily club and heard David Kirchhoff and Mort Morss speak on their big nursery move from Florida to Kentucky. They are such a hoot to hear. Also bought a few auction plants, JAMES DEAN and MOROCCAN MADNESS (Marea I thought of you :).

In the spirit of the picture thread, here is a pic of Doug and Maleah putting in the newest DL beds a few weeks ago.

Canna-That picture is priceless you sure caught the moment in that one, Maleah is precious. We are in the same shape here about rain. We were supposed to have 70% chances for rain last night and today and we did not get a thimble full. They asked all boats to be removed from Lake Chatouge, the lake is way down. We really need lots and lots of rain here.

Dawn-You sure keep our picture thread going, I love coming over to it and see whats been posted. Talon is so handsome and love his little sweater Barb gave him.

Jean-I agree with Dawn you sure know how to plant your flowers to compliment each other, just beautiful.

I still have daylilies blooming here Freeda James has bloomed her heart out, also King Kahuna.

Shirley

Dawn LOVE the lights!!!And I just want to kiss those cheeks of Talons.

Cute little redhead there.Helping Dad with the flower beds
Sigh I wanted one of my kids to be a redhead..but not to be.

But back to the Pic's

Battie

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The new bed I made in Spet.You see I picked up this rose and just couldn't decide way to put it.

Dawson and his cousin Joshua, of course Dawson is driving.

Jean-Love your new flower bed----nice

Shirley

nice pics all, addining some dl's///

Gemini Jack

Hold Your Horses{{gwi:1306073}}
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Holly Dancer

Orchid Corsage

Double Tequila Bunny

Dahlia Blackberry Ripple

Gourd Miss Debbie made and gave me....I LOVE IT

These three are still blooming here:
Mona Twirler

Cleopatra

Freeda James

Cindy I love all three of those...I have all but Holly Dancer...hint hint

Shirley

I am so glad you liked your gourd birdhouse Shirley. My intention is to send one to each member as I trade with them. So far I have only sent them to Carol, Sharon and Gloria and now to you. I started out painting them, but that was too labor intensive and too hard to correct mistakes. The last two, I did in colored pencil and layered on poly for protection. I hope to get one to all the members eventually. I try to personalize them...that's why Shirley's had the fairies on them...she had listed them on her questionaire along with her collection of "precious moments" which are also on the back of the gourd.

Thanks for your appreciation. I am glad you were pleased.
Debbie

Beautiful pics Shirley! Dawson looks adorable in his gator. I just found a tiny, green golf cart for Talon but it will be a while before he can drive it. : )

Debbie, you are extremely talented! Beautiful gourdhouse!

Cindy, 'Hold your Horses' is so lovely!

Love all the DL's and the Dalhia too!

Jeans new garden is great! We have the same taste in garden decor. : )

Canna, I know I told you how precious that pic is, but I forgot to tell you what a nice job they did on the bed. Perfect!

Here's little T at 5 months old......

He's laying on a very old blanket that used to be his Daddy's. : ) My MIL gave it to me right after Talon was born. I decided to have that pic blown up and I had it framed for MIL's B-day. She'll be here tomorrow. The little camo blankie is from Auntie Jenna.

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

How perfectly adorable, Dawn! And what a thoughtful & sentimental gift for Gramma ~ I bet she gets tears in her eyes...

I got my 10.100 swap box from Rox just now - she stuffed that box! I got my most wanted candy corn and a beautiful candy corn soy wax candle in an old fashioned bail jar and about 100 bulbs and plants, including daylilies 'Siloam Royalty' (which I have wanted for years)and 'Parade of Peacocks' (a 10" peach UF !! WOW) as well as a 'Red Lion' Amaryllis that is gearing up to bloom at Christmas! Beautiful tulips and iris and daffs - oh my! She included a pretty card & fun letter, the most beautiful Autumn kitchen towels & potholder & a smiley face pumpkin cookie & even jellybelly beans. I'm most definitely cheered up.
ROX ROCKS! Thank you so much!!
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Dawn-I've tried to figure out in every picture who Talon looks like and gosh he looks like you in that last picture.
What a little cutie....kiss those little cheeks for me.

Marea nice box from Roxie.

Carol your box is on its way...Hope you like

Shirley

Here's some pictures of my 'babies'. Starr and Maxx are 5 year old brothers and Brie joined us in April.

Brie at 9 weeks; wasn't she a cutie-pie.
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Now she's almost as big as the boys at 8 months.
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Roxy

I was doing some fall chores outside this morning and I had to stop and get my camera. The mini roses were blooming so pretty. Of course they look much better in the spring but they are really loving this cool fall weather. They pretty much stopped blooming in Aug. when it was so hot. They'll bloom until we get a really hard freeze. Next year I'm going to make a special bed just for them and plant them in the ground. It's hard to over-winter in pots.....they either rot from to much water or totally dry up and die.

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Patriot Song

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Buttermint

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Mary Margaret

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Southern Charm

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Roxy-Love those beautiful roses---thanks for sharing.

This is the entrance to tinyville...is this not darling?
We found this unique little place while out leaf looking.
A little couple built all these cute little houses.

This is the first little house we saw...Dawson loved all these little houses his size.

The outhouse in tinyville

Tinyvilles doghouse

Tinyvilles treehouse

Tinyville house

This house was hard to get to it was kinda hanging over an enbankment.

Shirley

How adorable Shirley!!! Both Dawson AND Tinyville! Thanks for sharing. I am inspired to build a tiny town of my own on Bluebird Hill! Talon's Teeny Townville! Townville is an actual town in PA.....it's where our African Grey was hatched. : )

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Hi Paul!

Talon loves his Angels onesies. They are fitting perfectly. Here he is "modeling" one of them....

How are your kids doing?

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Dawson and Talon are the cutest kids in the world. has grandpa built Dawson his own lil house in your yard Shirley?
I bet Talon's daddy already has plans for his first treehouse . here is my new lawn

other sidehugs carol

Dawson and 4 of his cousins (he's in red as a power ranger)

Another cousin, she's a lady bug

Shirley